Gertrude Esteros

Gertrude Esteros
Esteros, in Red Cross uniform, from a 1944 publication
Born
Kerttu Esteros

October 1, 1914
Cloquet, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedDecember 2, 2016 (age 102)
Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
OccupationsCollege professor, design scholar

Gertrude Anne Esteros (October 1, 1914 – December 2, 2016), born Kerttu Esteros, was an American college professor. From 1949 to 1979 she was head of the design department at the University of Minnesota. She was also first director of the Goldstein Gallery on campus. During World War II she worked with the American Red Cross in New Guinea and the Philippines.

Early life and education

Kerttu Esteros was born in Cloquet, Minnesota,[1] the daughter of Gust Esteros and Selma Hietala Esteros.[2] Both of her parents were born in Finland.[3] She was a 4-H member in her childhood,[4] and in 1933 she attended the National 4-H Encampment in Washington, D.C.,[5][6] where she met Eleanor Roosevelt.[7] She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1936,[8] and earned a master's degree there in 1941. She completed doctoral studies in 1957 at Teachers College, Columbia University,[1] with a dissertation titled "Art in Education for Home and Family Living".[9] While she was in college, she worked with mentors Wylle B. McNeal and the Goldstein sisters, Harriet and Vetta, all professors in Minnesota's home economics division.[10]

Career

Esteros taught at the University of Illinois from 1938 to 1940,[11] and at Lindenwood College in Missouri from 1941 to 1942.[12] She chaired the campus Peace Coordinating Committee at the University of Illinois, and was a founding member of the Champaign County ACLU in 1940. During World War II, she volunteered with the American Red Cross,[2][13] and served in New Guinea and the Philippines.[14][15] In 1946 she traveled to Guatemala, and in 1948, she went to Finland with the American Friends Service Committee, to work with displaced families from Karelia.[1][16]

Esteros was a design professor at the University of Minnesota from 1949 to 1979, and head of the "related arts" or design department.[17] She was a distinguished visiting professor at Penn State in 1963,[1] and president of the American Association of Housing Educators (AAHE) from 1967 to 1968.[18] In the 1980s she helped develop the 1666 Coffman Condominiums, a housing complex for retired professors on the university's campus.[19] She spoke to community groups, usually about home decor.[20]

Esteros retired from the University of Minnesota in 1980. She was founder of the Goldstein Gallery on campus, and its first director.[16] In 1993 she was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award by the University. On her 100th birthday the city of Falcon Heights celebrated "Gertrude Esteros Day".[21]

Publications

  • "A study of juiciness and flavor of standing and rolled beef rib roasts" (1937, with Alice M. Child)[22]
  • "Developing Intercultural Understandings" (1969}[23]

Personal life

Esteros designed her own home in St. Paul,[24] and later in life lived in the retirement community she helped to plan,[19] and died in 2016, at the age of 102, in St. Paul.[25][26] Her papers are in the University of Minnesota Archives.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Chairman of Related Art in Minnesota Named by University". Centre Daily Times. 1963-10-09. p. 13. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "Eight Minnesotans Reach Overseas Destinations for Red Cross Work". Star Tribune. 1944-02-26. p. 14. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Katherine M. Johnson". Duluth News Tribune. 2002-10-27. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  4. ↑ "4-H Winners Are Announced for State Contest". The Minneapolis Star. 1929-08-12. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Saginaw Girl Wins National 4-H Trip; Gertrude Esteros Will Be Rewarded for Nine Years of Work". The Duluth News Tribune. 1933-05-28. p. 19. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Four Picked for U.S. Camp; National 4-H Delegates Named". The Minneapolis Star. 1933-05-10. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Stoehr, Harlan (September 1, 2011). "The open-sesame effect of 4-H club work". Park Bugle. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  8. ↑ "Mrs. Fred V. Nash and Gertrude Esteros Will Be Guests on Woman's Page of Air". The Minneapolis Journal. 1936-05-31. p. 44. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Esteros, Gertrude Anne. "Art in Education for Home and Family Living." PhD diss., Teachers College, Columbia University, 1958.
  10. ↑ Woodward, Judy (October 23, 2016). "Goldstein Museum of Design turns 40". Park Bugle. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  11. ↑ "Wool, Novelty Fabrics Show War Influence". The Taylorville Daily Breeze Courier. 1940-03-25. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Facutty in Service" Lindenwood College Bulletin (April 1944): 6.
  13. ↑ Cummins, H. J. (2005-08-15). "Stories from the 'Greatest Generation'". Star Tribune. pp. B1. Retrieved 2026-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Red Cross Has Six at Leyte; Saginawian Gertrude Ann Esteros in First Philippine Contingent". The Saginaw News. 1945-02-28. p. 9. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Two Members of Lindenwood Faculty Tell Military Experiences" Linden Bark (March 21, 1944): 3.
  16. 1 2 Leebrick, Kristal. "WW II volunteer, world trekker, storyteller". Park Bugle. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  17. ↑ "Choose Right One". Star Tribune. 1959-01-14. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "HERA + AAHE Presidents" Proceedings of the 2023 Annual Conference of the Housing Education and Research Association (2023): 32.
  19. 1 2 Smetanka, Mary Jane (1998-10-07). "'1666'". Star Tribune. pp. 19, 22. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Aesthetic Values of Space in Planning Home Discussed". Post-Bulletin. 1963-02-21. p. 25. Retrieved 2026-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Leebrick, Kristal (September 23, 2014). "Oct. 1 is Gertrude Esteros Day in Falcon Heights". Park Bugle. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  22. ↑ Child, Alice M., and Gertrude Esteros. "A study of juiciness and flavor of standing and rolled beef rib roasts" Journal of Home Economics 29 (1937): 183.
  23. ↑ Esteros, Gertrude. "Developing intercultural understandings" Journal of Home Economics 61 (1969): 258-261.
  24. ↑ Premack, Frank (1962-03-04). "'U' Professor Had Ideas; Now She has a Home". Star Tribune. p. 54. Retrieved 2026-06-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "In Memoriam: Gertrude Esteros (B.S. HEEd '36, M.S. HEEd '41)". College of Design. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  26. ↑ "Gertrude Esteros". Park Bugle. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
  27. ↑ Department of Design, Housing, Apparel records University of Minnesota Archives.
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